The Boston Celtics announced today that they have allowed Doc Rivers to pursue a coaching opportunity with the Los Angeles Clippers. The Celtics will receive a future first round pick from the Clippers in exchange for allowing Rivers to depart.

Rivers, 51, was named Celtics head coach on April 29, 2004 and was the 16th head coach in franchise history. In his nine seasons with Boston, Rivers amassed a record of 416-305 during the regular season and 59-47 during the postseason.

The Los Angeles Clippers on Tuesday named Glenn "Doc" Rivers as the team's Senior Vice President of Basketball Operations and Head Coach. The Clippers signed Rivers after the Boston Celtics agreed to release him in exchange for a first round pick in the 2015 NBA Draft.

Rivers, Clippers President Andy Roeser and Vice President of Basketball Operations Gary Sacks will be available to the media at a press conference on Wednesday, June 26 at 11:00 a.m. at the Clippers Training Center in Playa Vista.

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UPDATE: Tuesday, June 25, at 3:25 p.m. ET by Sam Westmoreland

Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports reports that Doc Rivers' deal to become the Clippers' new head coach is done. Meanwhile, Brad Turner of the LA Times gives us some contract details, and notes that we shouldn't rush into saying the deal is officially done just yet.

Doc Rivers has signed his contract with the Los Angeles Clippers, league source tells Y! Sports.

Doc Rivers could be officially introduced as Clippers head coach very soon, according to Mark Murphy of the Boston Herald:

"One of the most protracted negotiations in Celtics history is expected to end tomorrow, when the Clippers plan to introduce Doc Rivers as their new head Coach"

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UPDATE: Sunday, June 23, at 6:11 p.m. ET by Eric Ball

It appears as if the trade is now official pending league approval. Jackie MacMullan of ESPN Boston is reporting that the Clippers will send a first-round pick in exchange for Doc Rivers, who will sign a 3-year, $21 million deal with the Clippers.

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---Original story----

Doc Rivers is reportedly close to moving from the Boston Celtics to the Los Angeles Clippers, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports.

In the end, the Celtics would make out OK in this deal, while the Clippers would get their dream coach. On top of that, landing Rivers would clinch Chris Paul signing a five-year max-deal with LA according to Marc Stein of ESPN.com.

Wojnarowski's report on Sunday noted that Paul's lobbying forced the franchise to reconsider its stance on offering a first-round pick for Rivers.

The report also had more details about the status of the talks between the parties involved.

Talks started again on Sunday when the Clippers offered the Celtics a first-round pick to free Rivers from his contract with Boston, sources said.

Rivers and the Clippers are working on the language of a five-year, $35 million contract, and no agreement will be in place until those details are finalized, sources said.

Brad Turner of the Los Angeles Times was able to confirm Wojnarowski's report about the latest development in the talks.

The Clippers are "getting close to end" for Doc Rivers deal, LA Times was told

Last week, Wojnarowski reported that the Celtics were attempting to get Eric Bledsoe, DeAndre Jordan and a first-round pick from the Clippers in exchange for Rivers and Kevin Garnett. The report noted that the Clippers were prepared to give Rivers a deal for four or five years, which they believed would keep free-agent-to-be Chris Paul in Los Angeles.

The Celtics went 41-40 last season, good for the seventh seed in the Eastern Conference. But without star point guard Rajon Rondo, they were ousted in six games by the New York Knicks in the first round of the playoffs.

As for the Clippers, they finished the regular season with a sterling 56-26 record, but coach Vinny Del Negro was fired after they fell in six games to the Memphis Grizzlies in the first round of the playoffs.

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Will the Clippers perform better under Doc Rivers?

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The Clippers continue to set high expectations for themselves, and rightfully so with the roster they've assembled. If they are able to re-sign Chris Paul this summer, they should still continue to be competitive in the coming years.

Paul averaged 16.9 points, 9.7 assists and 2.4 steals last season with the Clippers. His chemistry with Griffin was evident, as Griffin averaged 18.0 points and 8.3 rebounds alongside the All-Star point guard.

The Celtics are hoping they can continue to be a playoff team without Rivers, who led the team to the playoffs seven of the nine years he was in Boston. That included two trips to the NBA Finals and one championship.

The Celtics need to get younger. They also obviously need Rondo healthy to be a serious threat in the playoffs.

If Rivers is to move, it remains to be seen who would fill the vacancy in Boston.